Fireflies!

[altivo]

So it was clearer tonight than last, though still a bit hazy, and we went out after sunset to look at the Venus-Saturn conjunction. At first I was a little disappointed. It may look spectacular through a wide-field telescope, but to the naked eye or with my bird-watching binoculars Venus pretty much steals the show. The inner planet is blindingly bright, while Saturn is not in a good position in relation to the sun and looks like a star, somewhere between first and second magnitude. They really are within less than a degree of each other, but just barely. It's about half the width of my thumb when held at arm's length. Nonetheless, it's an interesting view. There's another very bright planet high in the southeast. It's probably Jupiter, judging by the brightness, but I haven't looked up a chart to be sure.

The real fun thing is actually the fireflies. They are out in full force, making the woods downright ghostly with their flitting lights, and hanging about in the trees as high as 30 or 40 feet up. This is very much like a scene from Fantasia and I wish I could capture it with a camera to show those of you unfortunate enough to live where there are no fireflies. We also spotted a number of bats cruising about, collecting mosquitos no doubt and welcome to all they can eat.

We had cheap champagne with dinner (celebrating all weekend, heh) so the effect of all this may be somewhat artificially enhanced, but it's fun anyway.

Comments

[corelog.livejournal.com]

Oooooh, fireflies! :D *dances with*

[altivo.livejournal.com]

*hands you a container of insect repellent to use*

I don't care how thick your fur is, you need that to keep these *^&%$ mosquitos off you.

Stars

[margaras.livejournal.com]

According to WeatherUnderground's star maps, and using Tomahawk as your location (I know you're somewhere in northern Wisconsin, but not sure where), between 9 and 10PM, Jupiter was indeed to the southeast, near the horizon, at about the same elevation as the Saturn/Venus conjunction, slowly moving towards the south and rising in elevation as it gets closer to 10pm.

We had some fireflies friday night.

Re: Stars

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the confirmation. Actually I'm in Northern Illinois, though I wouldn't mind being farther north. You had the longitude about right, so the times worked. I figured it must be Jupiter, because only Saturn and Jupiter ever get that bright when so far from the sun. Mars never quite makes it, probably because the disk is too small. And I already knew where Venus and Saturn were.

We get lots of fireflies every summer, but they seem to be best in a year when the mosquitos are out in full force. Kinda puts the brakes on any urge to go out and dance with them.

[cabcat.livejournal.com]

You do sound a little giddy :D, I'm imagining a hoss clip clopping sideways in a dancing like manner :D

[altivo.livejournal.com]

And crossing my feet. See Lee Marvin's horse in the film Cat Ballou for reference. ;p

[gabrielhorse.livejournal.com]

Sounds like fun... I haven't seen fireflies since I lived in North Carolina (when I was 11).

[altivo.livejournal.com]

It was nice. I really like fireflies, but unfortunately I don't like mosquito bites and the two seem to go together much of the time.

[gabrielhorse.livejournal.com]

Bummer... Curiously, I've lived FL most of my life znd never had a problem with mosquito bites.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Some people don't seem to attract mosquitos, and some who get bitten just don't have much reaction to it, I guess.

Of my three horses, one gets terrible welts from mosquito or fly bites. The other two are not bothered by mosquitos at all and though they do seem to notice the flies and try to get rid of them, they don't ever get any swelling or welts.

Mosquito bites make me itch for days, sheer torture. But my body temperature is a tad lower than average, so when I'm around other people, they tend to get bitten, leaving me alone. If I go out by myself, though, the bugs come for me.

[gabrielhorse.livejournal.com]

Curious... they seem to bite others when I'm not alone too... but everyone who's gotten close enough for physical contact (ahem...) has always said I feel very warm to the touch *scratches head* so... *shrugs*

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Well, I hesitate to suggest that you taste bad, even to mosquitos!

The common theories about those dern pests are that they are drawn to warmth, carbon dioxide and moisture in the breath of warm blooded animals, and by scent. If those are true, then by being cooler, not breathing (difficult!) or by smelling different, we can avoid getting bitten.

[gabrielhorse.livejournal.com]

*rolls eyes* Who knows what tastes good to mosquitos... they do bite me, just not much or often.

[dakhun.livejournal.com]

I like this conjunction in particular because it is a conjunction of a two very non-disc-like-in-appearance planets. Venus, because it is a crescent right now, and Saturn because it has rings. And yes, it is best seen in a telescope that can resolve the planets as extended objects...

[altivo.livejournal.com]

It wasn't clear enough here last night to be worth hauling the telescope out of the barn and setting it up. Tonight looks more promising, though we're going out to dinner so I dunno if it will happen. At least we should get another chance to look at it, with a clearer sky this time.